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Welcome to the boards! You can ask all the questions you want! We all do

My first thought is to put your 6,7 & 8 year olds all in Beyond together, each with their own LA and math level. The age for this guide is 6-8 so that's perfect! There are two levels of spelling words and your 8yo would most likely be ready for the dictation in Bigger as well as R&S 2 grammar.
Have you ever loked at Singapore math? It would be great to have that all planned out for you already in the guides. It is great for mental math and Carrie has awesome and EASY hands-on activities planned in the guides for Earlybird K to 2A/B. Little Hearts has Earlybird K 2, Beyond has 1A/B and Bigger has 2A/B. Starting in 3A, there is a schedule and you use the textbook for the teaching.

You could check the placement chart and see for sure about your oldest. I would imagine Preparing would be a good start since there's not been a lot of CM intro yet and it will help her gain her independence in prep for HFHTT: CTC. There are some much needed skills that Preparing would help her learn.

You could do LHTH with your little ones if you wanted something informal and fun for them. It takes about 20-30 minutes and is a great way to keep an older sibling busy while you are working with another one. I let my 7yo teach LHTH while I do some work with my middle. You could do the younger kid activities with Josiah and the older kid activities with Lydia. (I love the name Josiah btw...if our new arrival is a boy, we've decided he will be Josiah David )

8smiths,

I just wanted to pop-in and welcome you to the board! We're glad to have you here. We happen to be gone at a convention in NC right now, so I'll need to come back to this thread later, but I'll just bump you to the top of the board in case the moms have some other options for you to consider in the meantime. Mom2Monkeys did a wonderful job of getting the brainstorming started!

Blessings,
Carrie

I'm too new to offer much in the way of advice Just wanted to say that I can relate to the can't-put-the-catalog-down thing! When my catalog arrived a few weeks ago everything else slipped for a few days...school, housework, meals. I didn't ignore these things completely, but they weren't done well, LOL. It was this feeling of "coming home" as I searched and pondered and could completely see HOD fitting us well. Such an answer to prayer! Enjoy!

Angie - Thanks so much for sharing about each of your children, that really helps so much! I think HOD makes it easy to teach several programs at once - we have been doing 2 for multiple years now, and it's been great. I think it makes sense to look down the road, and try to do combining where you can though, doing 4 HOD programs to start with would probably be a bit much to take on. I think it would be wonderful if you could start with 2 or 3 HOD guides, and some half-speed.

I've got a couple of ideas here...
Idea 1: combine Savannah, Emma, and Noah in Bigger Hearts for His Glory, using the extension package with Savannah
have Nora Beth do Little Hearts for His Glory, either full-speed or half-speed if you'd like Lydia to join her
have Lydia and Josiah do Little Hands to Heaven slowly (this could be started after you've gotten the other 2 programs well
underway)
*The target age ranges for Bigger Hearts are ages 7-9 with extensions for 10-11 yo's. This fits your dc well, let's you combine, and will give Savannah exposure to history/science/CM Style skills, as well as extend history and science for her in an independent way. It fits Emma and Noah well too. Nora Beth will not be stressed out, but will love her own program with you, and your little ones could be on the way to being combined.

Idea 2: have Savannah do Preparing Hearts for His Glory
have Emma and Noah do Beyond Little Hearts, possibly having Emma do the right side of Bigger Hearts
either have Nora Beth do the left side of Beyond with Emma and Noah (if she can listen well to read-alouds with fewer pictures),
or have her do Little Hearts, half-speed if you'd like Lydia to join her
same as above for Lydia and Josiah
*This still fits their age ranges, allows you to combine, and will not push Noah and Nora Beth too far too early. It also will help each of them learn CM style skills, especially Emma and Noah, before getting to Bigger.

Whatever you do, I think I'd try to start with just 2 HOD programs, and then add in LHTH later after you've gotten into a good rhythm with your 2 guides. I think I'd lean toward Idea 1 right now. The following year, you could reflect on placement, and always bump Savannah up to CTC at that point, because she'd be able to be more independent with that and would have learned CM skills to prepare for that.

You know your dc best, and will know what to do - if you get the chance to share what your thoughts are about these ideas, that would be great! I know Carrie will be getting around to answering you too, but it helps her to have all the information she can on your thoughts about various scenarios. Thanks for sharing, and I know whatever programs you choose with HOD, you will LOVE them! You think you can hardly put down the catalog - just wait until you get the curriculum - it has the same effect!

In Christ,
Julie

Angie,

Thanks so much for your patience as we sort through your possible options. I can feel that you're coming to some closure as to what will be best for your family overall.

I love the various scenarios the ladies have shared as you've considered placement for your kiddos and love the direction you're moving in finding each kiddo's best fit.

From reading through the whole thread, taking notes on what you've shared about your kiddos, and weighing your feedback in each case, I agree that Savannah would fit best in Preparing Hearts, and I would move toward teaching her to read directly from the guide so she can become more indpendent in using it herself. She sounds as if she enjoys being independent and likes being involved in her own learning. My oldest son is this way as well and has thoroughly enjoyed being able to move forward quite a bit on his own.

Next, I agree that Emma and Noah would fit best in Beyond (at least for the left side of the guide and storytime). You'll have to see whether you'll need part of the right side of Bigger for Emma in the 3R's and should be able to tell once you receive the Beyond guide.

As far as Nora Beth goes, you are right that she fits best in LHFHG and if she were your only kiddo, we'd place her there. However, with your already very full plate, I'd lean toward either letting her listen in to Beyond with Emma and Noah (which would be a one year fix as she'd most likely struggle with Bigger the next year) or having her be the helper (and actually have her join in) with LHTH with Lydia and Josiah this year. Then, I'd add the right side of LHFHG for Nora Beth to up the level of her 3 R's and the following year have Nora Beth, Lydia, and Josiah move into LHFHG together. This way they could be together as they moved through the guides.

Doing Preparing Hearts, Beyond, and Little Hands to Heaven is a very manageable schedule. It also keeps you from repeating a program 2 years in a row teaching-wise and looks to the long-term as to how best to move your kiddos through the guides. I would wait to add DITHR, although it is an excellent program for literature study, until after this year. Once you've had a year of HOD you can move toward adding in the literature study. For now, I would read the Beyond storytime aloud to everyone and do the included literature study there to cover you in that area.

Blessings,
Carrie

Angie,

I would have Savannah do all of the readings in Preparing Hearts on her own and have her do the Extension Package too. That will be plenty of reading for Savannah. Then, as she listens in to the read-alouds from Beyond and does the corresponding literature discussions, she'll have her literature study covered too. If you're feeling comfortable with how your programs are coming along, you could easily add DITHR in for Savannah after several months. You could most likely use Level 4/5 with Savannah and just do it 3 days a week as scheduled in Preparing Hearts. I'd just advise getting a good schedule going before adding on that last piece.

Blessings,
Carrie